Many thanks to Lori at Pure Imagination who awarded me the following Zombie Chicken Award. w00t w00t! :)

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Author C. June Wolf was kind enough to send me a copy of her first published collection of short stories for review. Finding Creatures & Other Stories is a collection of stories that spans the various sub-genres of fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction.

Though I haven't yet read it in full, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce this book now since I plan to savor it slowly, reading a few stories here and there between my full-length reads instead of cover-to-cover. This is similar to how I read my last fantasy anthology, Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears, though I certainly don't plan on taking that long with this particular book. :) I also got the impression that this particular collection of stories was best enjoyed this way anyway, allowing time for the nuances of some of these remarkable stories to settle with you before moving on to the next. I can already see this book taking up permanent residence in my bookcase, to be shared among friends and family throughout the years.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears is an anthology of short stories inspired by classic fairy tales from cultures around the world. The collection, like the five other volumes in the series, was compiled and edited by fantasy authors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It's not necessary to read these in any kind of order as each volume, as well as the stories within each volume, stands alone.

The twenty-two stories in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears encompass a wide range of styles within the fantasy genre, from naughty to nice, sweet to cruel. We've got speculative fiction, a bit of sci-fi, and some straight out fantasy, with a bit of naughtiness thrown in to spice things up. Unfortunately though, because I kept this book on my nightstand and read it over the course of several years, I don't recall much detail about some of the earlier stories, other than that I liked most of them, and there were only a couple that I didn't really "get". So instead, I'll refer you to this LibraryThing review by Rhinoa where she gives a story-by-story rundown. Good job Rhinoa! :)

♥ search my blog ♥

♥ IMPORTANT NOTE ♥

Starting with 2015 reviews, Amazon book links will automatically open to your own local Amazon if available. These links also use my Amazon affiliate account, or that of BookObsessed for international.